The French Government has just taken new measures to deal with the second wave of COVID. River tourism activities will be greatly affected by this new wave of the virus, even though, for many activities, the season is over. This is because the global climate of anxiety and worry severely affects potential bookings by those tourists who would normally be planning next Spring and Summer’s holiday visits to France to enjoy the kinds of activities that we offer.
The priority of many operators is simply to survive this period of uncertainty. VNF is therefore studying measures to best support them through this period, as we have been doing up this point in the COVID crisis.
This crisis, from which we must learn all the lessons, will be overcome. For this reason, VNF has also initiated a reflection, with the relevant professional federations, and other stakeholders, on the river tourism of tomorrow. We have recent data to make a thorough observation on the various river tourism activities “before COVID” (*).
Through this work, we will contribute to the “Sustainable Tourism” roadmap being developed within the Tourism Branch Committee.
(*) 5 detailed socio-economic reports can be downloaded at: https://www.vnf.fr/vnf/accueil/tourisme-fluvial/economie-du-secteur-tourisme/les-etudes-socio-economique-du-tourisme-fluvial/
Article written by Nicolas Delaporte, VNF, France
